Assembly 1: Gauge and CO2 Charging Adapter

Schematic:

The basic concept is to incorporate both the adapter for charging (pressurizing) the flamer and an on-board pressure gauge into one assembly that can then be easily connected to the PVC body/frame. (Due to the lack of an onboard pressurizing tank (intended for Mk IV design) the pressure will drop substantially as the fuel is discharged. The gauge tells when to recharge the pressure.)

Assembly Itself:

This assembly contains the pressure gauge and the Schrader valve which allows the flamer to be pressurized with either a bicycle pump or a CO2 tire-filling system. The pressure gauge and the Schrader valve are available from McMaster-Carr; everything else should be in stock at a Lowe's / plumbing store.

Parts:

3/4” MIP x 1/2” FIP Pipe Hex Bushing (Watts # A-870)

1/2” MIP x 1/8” FIP Pipe Hex Bushing (Watts # A-826)

1/8” MIP x 1/8” FIP Street Elbow (Watts # A-712)

2x 1/8” MIP x 1 1/2” Brass Pipe Nipple (Watts # A-716)

1/8” FIP Tee (McMaster-Carr # 9151K41)

1/4” MIP x 1/8” FIP Pipe Hex Bushing (Watts # A-738)

1/4” FIP Pipe Coupling (Watts # A-732)

1/4” NPT Air Fill Valve (McMaster-Carr # 8063K37)

1/8” NPT 0-160 PSI Gauge (McMaster-Carr # 40565K33)

2” Slip x 2” Slip x ¾ FIP PVC Tee

Tools & Supplies:

Teflon Tape

8” / 7/16” Adjustable Wrench

7/16”, 9/16”, 5/8”, 13/16” Wrenches

Assembling the Parts:

-Teflon tape is used throughout to ensure a tight seal on the metal threads connecting the components. Make sure that the tape is wound around the threads the correct way, or else it will be stripped off as the threads are tightened. (The assembly can be put together in any order, really – this is how I went about it.) Screw the 1/2” x 1/8” bushing into the 3/4” x 1/2” bushing. This allows the 1/8” pipe for the gauge to be screwed directly into the PVC tee on the frame.

-Next, attach the street elbow so that the gauge and fill valve will run parallel to the body of the flamer, in between the top and the bottom lengths of PVC.

-Alignment becomes important with this next part. When adding the first length of pipe nipple and the tee, the perpendicular outlet of the tee needs to be orthogonal to the two sides of the street elbow – pointing to the left for a right-handed flamer and vice versa. (Words are tricky; look at the pictures below.)

-Yes, I'm aware that this assembly is 'backwards', i.e. put together for a left-handed flamer. I didn't notice the mistake until a much later stage. Easy to fix, though – just put another halfturn on the elbow-nipple-tee junction(s).

-Continuing along the pipe, the next step is to add the second pipe nipple and the bushing to connect (via coupler) to the Schrader valve.

-Now, add the coupler and then connect the Schrader valve to finish the straight-line section of the assembly.

-Notice that by this point I've realized and corrected my earlier error in the alignment of the tee.

-Note the orientation of the gauge here. I tightened it to where it would be aligned with the horizontal of the flamer body. It could also be aligned for optimum viewing looking along the body of the flamer, i.e. one-quarter-turn counterclockwise from here.

-The last step to the assembly is to attach the metal parts, above, to the PVC tee prior to assembling the frame. Once the PVC tee is glued into place on the frame, there won't be room to screw in the above assembly in one piece, and it'd be a pain in the ass to try and add it piece by piece. (Thus this sub-assembly.)

-Note that the below PVC tee wasn't included in the overview picture for this assembly. That was an oversight.

-And voila, the completed pressure gauge / charging valve assembly, ready to be incorporated into the flamer body, once the internal hose assembly is completed. (It's probably doable to put together the frame, and then add the internal assembly, but it was enough of a pain in the ass threading the internal hose prior to the glue-up.)